KIEV, November 26. /TASS/. The Ukrainian armed forces have been put on full combat alert by the decision of the chief of the country’s General Staff, the press service of Ukraine’s Defense Ministry reported on Monday.
"In accordance with the National Security and Defense Council’s decision on imposing martial law, the chief of the General Staff and commander-in-chief of Ukraine’s armed forces ordered to put the Ukrainian armed forces’ units on full combat alert," the press service said.
Due to the situation in the Kerch Strait, National Security and Defense Council Secretary Alexander Turchinov earlier voiced the initiative on imposing martial law in the country for 60 days backed by the Ukrainian president. Now this bill is to be considered by Ukraine’s Verkhovna Rada (parliament). According to its speaker Andrei Parubiy, its meeting will be convened on Monday at 16:00 local time (17:00 Moscow time).
For his part, the Ukrainian president assured that the proposed move would not affect the army’s actions in the Donbass area and would not imply urgent mobilization.
On November 25, the Russian Federal Security Service (FSB) border directorate for Crimea reported that three Ukrainian warships had illegally crossed Russia’s state border in the Black Sea and entered Russia’s territorial waters performing dangerous maneuvers. Later on, the FSB said that two more Ukrainian warships had sailed off from Berdyansk to join the three vessels. However, they soon turned back.
All three Ukrainian Navy vessels, which violated the Russian state border, were detained in the Black Sea, with weapons used to force them to stop. Three wounded Ukrainian military servicemen received medical care, the FSB said, adding that there was no threat to their lives. A criminal case has been initiated over violation of Russia’s state border.
The FSB stressed that "before making such dangerous and irresponsible decisions, the Kiev leadership should have thought about possible consequences of its actions.".